Interview With Trill Withers From Barstool Sports

Barstool Sports

So I finally got to sit down and do an interview with Trill Withers via Skype, and boy was it a pleasure. Now I know you might be asking yourself, “who is Trill Withers”? Well he is an employee of Barstool Sports, one of the worlds greatest tweeters, a three time ham contest eating champion, and most importantly he is roughly 50% of the basketball podcast “Mickstape”.

Mickstape is a popular basketball podcast that is presented by Barstool Sports. Trill Withers is on the podcast alongside his co-star Coley Mick. They often talk about the NBA and our baby boys aka our former Wildcats. But other times they will wander off on other subjects such as their favorite Simpsons episode and their favorite sandwiches. For me it is always a must listen show and I always rush to download the next episode whenever available.

Trill is a native of Kentucky and a graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2010. But currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia. But he told me he heads up to the Barstool Headquarters up in New York City at least once a month, and checks up on the offices.

But we sat down and talked over the phone for nearly thirty minutes and I ask him as much as I possibly could. We went over his early experiences as a fan, his thoughts on this years team, and even brought up some bad memories with the 2015 Final Four loss to Wisconsin. It was real pleasure to talk to Trill and he seemed like a genuine class act.

Q. What were some of your earliest memories of being a Kentucky fan?

Trill: “When I was young my pops would take me over to the Blue Courts over on Kentucky’s campus, going to barbershop and seeing players, and having players like Ron Mercer and Antoine Walker visit us at elementary school to sit and have lunch with us”.

Q. How did you get involved with Barstool Sports and sports blogging?

Trill: “Basically my only experience with this is through Coley, me and Coley had followed each other for a few years. So whenever he got his opportunity at Barstool he reached out to me, so it’s all through Coley”.

Q. Can you tell me about working with Big Cat and PFT Commenter

Trill: “They’re great, I love those guys. I’ve been on Pardon My Take and they’ve popped up on Mickstape. Love those guys”.

Q. What was it like having Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the podcast and what was it like meeting him?

Trill: “I was in awe. The person who scored the most points in NBA history was sitting directly to my left in studio. I’ll never forget it, no one can ever take it away, and it was just an amazing experience”.

(From Left to Right) Trill, Kareem, Coley @MickstapeShow

Q. You and Coley were the first people I remember talking about how KAT was the clear number one pick over Jahlil Okafor in the NBA Draft. Can you tell me what you two saw so early on that the national media didn’t?

Trill: “It was nothing against Jahlil, it was just I thought how the NBA was trending. Like its here now and that type of big man like Jahlil is just harder to fit in the NBA. Like Towns has his issues for sure, but I still feel like if you’re building an ideal big man for this era of NBA, like the mobility and can run the floor then I just think its Towns”.

Q. Do you have a favorite player all time at Kentucky?

Trill: “Gosh, probably Ron Mercer honestly. Just because he use to come to my school and that time they were rock stars, and at that time I thought he was gonna be the next Michael Jordan. But yeah he is up there. Ulis, I love Tyler Ulis, MKG, Nerlens, Tayshaun of course, Mashburn”.

Q. Have you got any former Kentucky players on Mickstape?

Trill: “Not yet, we thought we were gonna get Fox and Monk during the draft but it fell through. But we are gonna have to get some Cats on there”.

Q. Who is the recruit you wanted the most at Kentucky that we didn’t get?

Trill: “Probably Wiggins, I was really high on Wiggins and I thought we had him in the bag. So when he went to Kansas I was shocked, because I really thought he was gonna come to Kentucky. But now it might be Trae Young, because Trae Young is amazing and I’m upset that we didn’t get him”.

Q. What are your thoughts on this years Kentucky’s team?

Trill: “I feel like I still don’t have a grasp on them, I feel like there is something missing. I know they are a really young team, but I feel like they will be a typical Cal team and get better come March”.

Q. What about the 2015 Wisconsin game as a fan haunts you the most?

Trill: “I said it at the time and I’ll continue to saynit, that loss looks worse and worse as the time goes on. As you see Karl Towns get better. As you see Booker, Ulis, Lyles, Cauley-Stein, and Andrew Harrison get better then you continue to ask yourself how we lost that game with that amount of talent”.

Q. Do you see any NBA comparisons to anybody on Kentucky’s roster this year?

Trill: “I heard some Kevin Durant comparisons to Knox before he started the year, which is obviously unfair. But after seeing him play, I can for sure see the mold”.

Q. Do you have any words for Big Blue Nation?

Trill: “Just keep the faith.”

I just wanna thank Trill Withers again for doing the interview. Probably one of the nicest people I’ve talked to and was extremely humble the entire time. Now go subscribe to their podcast Mickstape and show them some love!

Go Cats!

You can follow Trill, Coley, and Mickstape on Twitter at @TylerIAm, @ColeyMick, and @MickstapeShow